


A Cruel Fate

by Kyarorain



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-21
Updated: 2011-02-21
Packaged: 2017-10-17 08:22:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/174831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyarorain/pseuds/Kyarorain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What was the reason for Jessie, James and Meowth's apparent personality change after their Sinnoh mission was over?</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Cruel Fate

**A Cruel Fate**

x-o-x-o-x

Team Rocket (Jessie, James and Meowth) underwent a very peculiar change at the start of the Black and White series. They have become very serious, acting this way all the time, and are actually being competent and not getting blasted off. It's quite a startling change indeed.

What could have happened to make them like this? This is a pretty dark take on their transformation... there's character death involved.

Game Freak and Nintendo own Pokémon.

x-o-x-o-x

Jessie, James and Meowth gazed up at the building that loomed before them, perched atop a cliff. A large red R could be seen on the front of the building. This was the base of Team Rocket operations and where their boss, Giovanni, was waiting to meet them.

"We really got a big break this time," James said happily, looking at his partners. "The boss has something really good in store for us, I'm sure."

"After all these years of losing and constantly getting beaten up by annoying twerps, it's about time we got what we deserved." Jessie clasped her hands in rapture. "To think we've come so far... I can't wait to see what the boss has planned for us."

Meowth beamed happily. "I may just be a step closer to becoming the boss's favourite Pokémon at this point. Sooner or later, it's going to be me sitting on his lap and that mangy Persian will be kicked to the curb." He started chuckling.

"If the boss chooses you to be on his lap all the time, that means you won't be with us anymore, doesn't it?" James wondered.

"Hmm... I guess his true affections do lie with the boss, don't they?" Jessie murmured.

"He likes the boss more than us?" James folded his arms and exhaled. "After all the years we've spent together, that almost stings."

Jessie and James turned away from Meowth in unison.

"H-hey! Wait a minute!" Meowth exclaimed. "I do like you guys too, you know... come on, don't be mad at me. Please?"

Jessie and James remained with their backs turned to him for a few seconds longer before turning back with smiles on their faces and chuckling.

"Aw, we were only teasing you, Meowth," Jessie said. "We know you didn't mean anything by it."

"Yeah, we're all thick as thieves, right?" James grinned.

Meowth sighed and shook his head in exasperation. "Geez, you guys got me good there. Anyway, we shouldn't be keeping the boss waiting, should we? We wouldn't want him giving our reward to Butch and Cassidy instead."

"I don't think we'll have to worry about that." Jessie raised an eyebrow. "Those guys have been really lame lately. What happened to them?"

"When they are reminding me of us, you know something's wrong. Well, how about a group hug before we go in?" James asked.

The three of them flung their arms around each other, embracing tightly and smiling.

"Well, here's to speedy success and a promotion," said Meowth.

"Surely, we're going to be taking new steps forward," Jessie said.

"It's an exciting new future for us," added James.

"It feels good!" the three of them exclaimed in unison.

They broke apart and set off toward the Team Rocket base, brimming with excitement about what lay in store for them within.

x-o-x-o-x

Giovanni was sitting at his desk within his extremely large office, which strangely contained nothing more than his desk and chair considering its immense size. He was deep in thought as he pored over paperwork, one hand stroking the Persian that rested on his lap. The door opened and he glanced up to see his secretary walk in.

"Jessie, James and Meowth have arrived," the secretary announced.

"Excellent." A smirk spread across Giovanni's face. "Please show them in."

The secretary turned to the door and beckoned. The trio walked in and approached Giovanni's desk. His Persian briefly raised its head to sneer at Meowth, who responded with a dirty look.

"So, you have arrived," Giovanni stated. "It seems you have been very busy in the Sinnoh region and I am quite impressed with your achievements."

The three just nodded, listening attentively. They knew better than to banter around in front of their boss.

"You have done very well indeed and I imagine you are now expecting some kind of reward from me," Giovanni continued.

"Well, we're not asking for much," Meowth said hastily.

"Anything you have for us would be much appreciated, sir," Jessie added.

"Like a promotion?" Giovanni gazed at them intently.

"Um, well... we were hoping for that," James admitted.

"But it's not absolutely necessary!" Meowth said hastily, waving his paws. He didn't want to run the risk of offending their boss.

"Of course, after all these years of working hard for Team Rocket, I know you expect something." Giovanni gently dropped his Persian to the floor and stood. "Come with me."

The trio followed Giovanni out of the office and he led them through several corridors into a new room. Within this room were some chairs hooked up to odd looking devices that they had not seen before.

"What is this?" Jessie wondered.

"This is a new invention we've been perfecting and I want you three to try it out for me," Giovanni said. "I even have a smaller chair right here for you, Meowth. All you have to do is sit in the chairs and the equipment will do the rest."

"What does it do though?" James asked.

"Don't worry, I'll tell you in due time. I wouldn't risk the lives of my employees." Giovanni smiled wider, his eyes glittering.

"The boss gave us an order!" Meowth snapped impatiently, feeling a little cross with his teammates for their hesitation. He would do anything Giovanni asked of them without thinking twice of it. The feline Pokémon marched over and sat in the small chair.

"Well, I'm sure it won't hurt," James muttered. This was really strange. Why would Giovanni call them over just to have them test out strange looking equipment?

"There's nothing to worry about," Jessie murmured back. "We can trust the boss."

Jessie and James sat down in two of the chairs. Metal helmet shaped contraptions descended from the ceiling and fitted snugly around the trio's heads. The monitors scattered around the room turned on and lines of text were running up the screens. The trio felt an odd tingling in their heads. Several minutes passed by before the machinery came to a stop and the helmets came off.

"It's done," Giovanni announced.

The three got up from their chairs, giving him questioning looks. None of them were sure what exactly had just happened.

"Be patient," Giovanni said before they even had a chance to ask. "It will become clear in due time. Now I will be taking you somewhere else."

Jessie, James and Meowth exchanged troubled glances. Their boss was acting rather peculiar today and they were beginning to get the feeling that something wasn't quite right here but they hardly dared to speak out against him. He would surely change his mind about rewarding them if they did and they couldn't risk that.

Giovanni led them to an entirely different room. It was completely empty and there seemed to be nothing interesting about it.

"Stand over there," he ordered, pointing to the far wall.

"Um... why?" James asked doubtfully.

"There's nothing in here," Jessie pointed out. "What do you want us to..."

"I am your boss and you will do what I say!" Giovanni thundered, his eyes flashing. "Especially if you want that promotion."

"Come on, let's do what he says," Meowth said hastily. He wanted to believe their boss wouldn't do anything terrible to them but even he was starting to have some doubts. After all, he had seen what Giovanni was capable of at Clear Lake and hadn't liked it in the least, but surely he wouldn't harm them?

The trio reluctantly walked to the othed end of the room. Giovanni reached out and flipped a lever on the wall near the door. A glass panel slid down from the ceiling and met with the floor, separating him from his employees. Jessie, James and Meowth stared at him in shock and rushed to the glass wall, pressing against it.

"Hey, what's going on?" Jessie asked, her eyes widening.

"Let us out of here!" James exclaimed, slamming a fist against the glass wall.

"What are you doing?" Meowth looked hopelessly at the face of the man he had admired and idolised for so long.

Giovanni chuckled. "First, I would like you to meet my new employees." He stepped out of the room. A few moments later, he returned with them.

Jessie, James and Meowth gasped in shock as they found themselves looking at their exact replicas. They were like them in every way except for the uniform the Jessie and James duplicates were wearing, which was black rather than white.

"What do you think?" Giovanni asked.

"Are you talking about the uniforms?" James asked, his voice somewhat shaky. "Is this some strange way of showing us what we'd look like in new uniforms?"

"I don't know about the uniforms," Jessie said critically. "We'd look like every other Team Rocket grunt."

"He wouldn't trap us behind a glass wall just to show us some models," Meowth pointed out, sounding a little annoyed. "Besides, why would I have a replica then?"

Giovanni smiled coldly. "My robots look quite lifelike, don't they? It's hard to tell them apart from the real thing."

"Okay, so you modeled some robots after us?" Jessie frowned.

"Well, they do say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," James said.

"What's the big deal?" Meowth yelled. "Why are we trapped behind this wall?"

"I'll get to that shortly. You know when you sat in those chairs?" Giovanni reminded them. "I was downloading your memories. Those memories will be implanted in these robots."

Jessie, James and Meowth stared at him incredulously, hardly able to believe what they were hearing. They couldn't even begin to comprehend why Giovanni would want to make robot replicas of them.

"You three are so pathetic. I'm tired of you," Giovanni stated, looking at them disdainfully. "In fact, you are an embarrassment to Team Rocket."

"But... but... we got rid of Team Galactic and Pokémon Hunter J!" Jessie exclaimed. "It was in the report!"

"You even called us down here because of it," said James.

Giovanni chuckled derisively. "Oh come on, I know that report was a bunch of lies. Not for one second do I really believe you did all that. I am going to do something that I should have done a long time ago."

"Boss... please..." Meowth said fearfully. "Give us another chance. We've worked so hard for you."

"There will be no more chances," Giovanni said icily. "These robots will take over for you. They are utterly devoid of emotion and will do their jobs efficiently, whatever it takes. As for you... you three will be erased."

"This can't be happening!" James clenched his fists. "Why... why would you do this to us? After all we've done for you, you would just dispose of us like we were trash?"

Meowth's eyes teared up. He had thought so highly of Giovanni and longed for his affection, only for this to happen? All that effort to please him had meant nothing in the end. "No way. This... this can't be."

"If you don't want us in Team Rocket, why don't you just fire us?" Jessie yelled angrily. If they were fired, at least there were other options. She had done pretty well in the contests in Sinnoh, even getting all the way to the Grand Festival, and could try again.

"What, and lose employees? I'm sure these robots will do a better job than you. Nobody will even know you've been replaced," Giovanni said. "Well, anyone who knows you well will be surprised that you're doing a better job than usual. but they won't suspect anything. They won't even know you're gone."

"You're a maniac!" Jessie screamed, beating on the wall. "You can't do this! We have rights! We're human beings... we don't deserve this..." Her voice choked off in a sob. Normally, she was tough and fearless, but with death staring her in the face she was scared. "Please don't do this to us."

"You can't just play with lives like this!" James shouted. "What's wrong with you?"

Meowth sank to his knees, his paws sliding down the glass. He was filled with an unbearable sadness. After all those years and all that work, this was what was going to happen? Their efforts had amounted to nothing and now Giovanni was going to get rid of them.

"Why don't you start saying your goodbyes now?" Giovanni said. "Who knows if you'll be meeting again in the afterlife?"

"You bastard," Jessie hissed. "I don't know why we ever liked you."

"Why did we even join Team Rocket?" James swallowed heavily. "Maybe we should have just stayed with that bike gang or done something else. Anything that wouldn't have ended in us getting killed."

Jessie blinked back tears. "I wish we hadn't bothered joining. Haven't you noticed we've been good at anything that didn't involve being Team Rocket? How did things manage to go so wrong? If we'd just done other things..."

"I can't believe you, boss." Meowth stared at Giovanni with a despairing expression. "After everything we did for you."

"What did you do for me? Nothing." Giovanni sniffed in contempt. "You were terrible at stealing Pokémon. Just a bunch of clowns, you were. I'm tired of it."

"I don't want to die!" Jessie screamed. "Goddamit." She sank to the floor in a heap, sobbing. "Why?"

James bit his bottom lip. Tears were flowing from his eyes now. Even getting married to Jessiebelle would have been better than this cruel fate. He sank down next to Jessie. "I guess we're never going to blast off again, huh?"

"I'm so scared," Jessie whispered. "I've never been this scared before." She raised her head, looking into James's eyes.

"I'm scared too," James choked out. "What do you think will happen when we die?"

"I don't know..." Jessie faltered.

They flung their arms around each other and held on tightly, screwing their eyes shut.

"Hey, is there any room for me?" Meowth approached them. The fur on his face was matted down with tears and more of them were leaking from his eyes. They pulled him into the embrace.

"Well... better to die together than alone, right?" James muttered weakly.

"We'll always be together, won't we? Even in death?" Meowth wondered.

"Of course. Nothing will keep us apart," said Jessie.

Giovanni reached out and pressed a button. Several large nozzles popped out of the wall behind the glass and clouds of gas poured out. The loud hissing drowned out the sound of the trio's sobbing. The Team Rocket leader watched on with a satisfied smile as the clouds grew larger and became so thick that he couldn't see the trio anymore.

Jessie, James and Meowth held their breath, struggling to hold on to their last precious moments of life. They never let go of each other. Their lungs were starting to burn but still they desperately clung to life. Meowth was the first to give up and gasped loudly, inhaling the gas. Jessie and James reluctantly gave up the fight as well, breathing in the gas that would put an end to their lives.

Many minutes later, the gas stopped pouring out. Giovanni pressed another button and the shutters on the wall opened up, filtering out the gas. When the clouds had cleared, he could see the trio slumped on the floor. Jessie and James had their arms intertwined and Meowth rested between them. Their mouths were rimmed with flecks of foam and their chests were unmoving.

Giovanni gazed at them with a contemptuous smirk then turned to face the robots. "It's time for your programming. Let's go." He would have his grunts come and dispose of the bodies later and their Pokémon would be taken away to storage.

"Yes, sir," the robots spoke in unison, following him out of the room.


End file.
